Page 398 - ANNA KARENINA

Anna Karenina

‘Come along, then,’ said the Englishman, frowning,
and speaking with his mouth shut, and with swinging
elbows, he went on in front with his disjointed gait.
They went into the little yard in front of the shed. A

stable boy, spruce and smart in his holiday attire, met them
with a broom in his hand, and followed them. In the shed
there were five horses in their separate stalls, and Vronsky
knew that his chief rival, Gladiator, a very tall chestnut
horse, had been brought there, and must be standing
among them. Even more than his mare, Vronsky longed
to see Gladiator, whom he had never seen. But he knew
that by the etiquette of the race course it was not merely
impossible for him to see the horse, but improper even to
ask questions about him. Just as he was passing along the
passage, the boy opened the door into the second horse-
box on the left, and Vronsky caught a glimpse of a big
chestnut horse with white legs. He knew that this was
Gladiator, but, with the feeling of a man turning away
from the sight of another man’s open letter, he turned
round and went into Frou-Frou’s stall.
‘The horse is here belonging to Mak...Mak...I never
can say the name,’ said the Englishman, over his shoulder,
pointing his big finger and dirty nail towards Gladiator’s
stall.

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